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URI Lecture on Healthspan, Not Just Lifespan, in Aging Well 

Published in RINewsToday on April 20, 2026

Over 300 people packed Edwards Auditorium on the University of Rhode Island’s (URI) Kingston Campus on April 7th to attend the 20th annual Malford Thewlis Lecture on Gerontology and Geriatrics. This year, Dr. Laura Kubzansky from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health spoke, offering research-based, practical tips for living longer and better.

Each year, URI’s lecture highlights important issues related to aging, with particular attention given to policies and programs affecting older adults. Dr. Phillip G. Clark, director of URI’s Program in Gerontology and the Rhode Island Geriatric Education Center, expressed excitement in focusing on personal attributes and longevity at this lecture.

Clark, who serves as emcee, explained that the lecture aims to unite different fields and engage people outside academia. “We show that every field contributes to understanding aging,” he said, adding, “we work hard to keep it accessible—grounded in science but understandable to the general public.”

This message is particularly relevant to Rhode Island. After Clark introduced the event, URI Provost Barbara Wolfe welcomed everyone and highlighted that more than 20% of Rhode Islanders are now aged 65 or older, achieving “super-aging” status. She emphasized that this demographic shift will significantly affect the state’s future budget.

Wolfe also highlighted that by 2050, about 2 billion people worldwide will be age 60 and over, underscoring the significance of the Ocean State’s graying population.

“As a public flagship university, we believe it’s our responsibility to get involved with important social, economic, and policy issues like aging,” says Wolfe.

Building on Wolfe’s remarks, Kubzansky brought decades of expertise to the lecture. She has studied how psychological well-being connects to physical health. Her research examines both traditional risk factors and how traits like optimism and social connection affect health over time.

The Harvard professor has led or co-led many research projects funded by organizations such as the Veterans Administration, the National Institutes of Health, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. She is also a fellow of the American Psychological Association and the Academy of Behavioral Medicine Research.

Focusing on “Healthspan” Rather Than Only Lifespan

In her one-hour lecture, “Optimism and Kindness: Ingredients for a Long and Healthy Life,” Kubzansky urged researchers and the public to rethink how we approach aging. She explained that we should aim not only to live longer, but to remain healthy for more years, free from long-term illness or disability.

Kubzansky describes an “asset-based approach” to health as part of this new way of thinking. This approach means focusing on positive resources or strengths—such as optimism, kindness, and strong relationships—rather than only on problems like stress or depression.

Meanwhile, she suggested that researchers should also study how these positive traits and experiences influence health.  She explained that for a long time, physicians doubted whether these factors truly affect physical health. But now, research increasingly shows their impact.

Kubzansky cited studies showing that activities such as volunteering, spending time in nature, and building social connections improve health and extend life.

She also explained that negative experiences, such as loneliness or post-traumatic stress disorder, increase the risk of chronic diseases like heart disease.

“The key question,” she said, “is whether positive factors do more than just show the absence of something negative, and if they actually offer their own unique benefits.”

Kubzansky cited a study that suggests optimistic people live about 15% longer and are 24% more likely to age in good health. These benefits extend beyond the absence of depression.

This leads to an important question for researchers: ” She asks, can improving mental well-being also improve one’s physical health?

“If we can improve psychosocial functioning,” Kubzansky said, “we may also be able to improve physical health later on. That’s a very promising idea for healthy aging.”

Kubzansky discussed a large United Kingdom study that found people who volunteer or donate to charity experience less chronic pain years later. She noted that another long-term study links loneliness to a much higher risk of heart disease.

One of the most striking research findings Kubzansky shared came from the Baltimore Experience Corps Study. It showed that older adults who volunteered slowed the decline in brain volume, essentially turning back the clock on brain aging by about three years.  She found these results both “striking and encouraging.”  She said, “They’re solid, have been repeated in other studies, and show actions people can really take.”

At the end of the lecture, the question and answer session allowed Kubzansky to discuss topics she hadn’t covered earlier. She talked about practical issues, such as the roles and impacts of pets, family, and faith communities on health; research topics, such as causality and financial differences; and broader social questions, such as optimism among younger people. These conversations helped connect her research to real-life situations.

 A Rhode Island Gerontologist’s Perspective

For URI’s Clark, this year’s Malford Thewlis Lecture on Gerontology and Geriatrics demonstrated that researchers increasingly approach aging in new ways.

“There’s more focus now on human flourishing,” he said, emphasizing Kubzansky’s work at Harvard as a prime example. He stressed that this research challenges old assumptions about aging.

“Many people tend to associate aging with decline,” Clark said. “But research tells us that’s not the whole story,” he continued.

Clark said what stood out most to him during Kubzansky’s presentation was the idea that people have more control over their health than they might realize. “Each of us can develop habits and ways of thinking that improve our chances of living longer and staying healthier,” he said.

Many of these new habits are simple and easy to start, says Clark, including volunteering, staying active, spending time outdoors, or keeping in touch with friends. Even small things, such as caring for a pet or gardening, can make a difference, he says.

For people who have trouble getting around, connecting with friends or family by phone, joining online groups, taking virtual classes, or writing letters can be meaningful. The most important thing is to find activities—big or small—that work for each person and help them build positive connections with others.

Clark sees loneliness as a major social problem that the entire community and system must address—not just individuals.

Volunteering stands out in particular. “People often gain as much or even more from it than those they help,” Clark observed. Having a sense of personal agency is central to all of this. While genetics plays a role, Clark pointed out that research shows we control about 30 percent of our lifespan.

“The takeaway of the lecture,” he said, “is that a positive outlook matters. Even when things are difficult, there are ways to respond that support better health.”

In summary, Kubzansky’s lecture aimed to change how people think about aging, moving beyond just a medical view to one that also values psychological and social well-being. She encouraged everyone—academics, URI students, and community members—to think more broadly about what it means to age well.

Hopefully, her evidence-based arguments may inspire Congress, state policymakers, and public health leaders to allocate more funding to programs that foster social connections, kindness, and a sense of purpose. Attendees heard Kubzansky make a strong scientific case for volunteering, maintaining strong social ties, staying positive, and looking forward. Yes, these practical steps can extend not just your lifespan, but also your healthspan.

In 2006, URI started the Malford Thewlis Lecture on Gerontology and Geriatrics to get people talking and thinking about aging. It is named after Dr. Malford W. Thewlis, a pioneer in geriatric medicine and co-founder of the American Geriatrics Society in 1942. He lived in Wakefield and wrote an early textbook on geriatrics, “The Care of the Aged: Geriatrics,” first published in 1919. He was also an amateur magician and a member of the International Brotherhood of Magicians.

To view Kubzansky’s lecture, go to

2026 Thewlis Lecture “Optimism and Kindness: Ingredients for a Long and Healthy Life” Laura Kubzansky

AARP Rhode Island calls on Congress to act on lowering high drug costs

Published on March 14, 2022 in Rhode Island News Today

On the day before the Washington, DC-based AARP’s March 8th launch of its new ad campaign showing the impact of Congress’s failure to act on prescription drug prices, AARP Rhode Island State Director Catherine Taylor, Volunteer State President Marcus Mitchell and Volunteer Lead Federal Liaison Dr. Phil Zarlengo joined Rhode Island US Senators Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse for a virtual news conference highlighting the need for Congress to act now to slash rising prescription drug costs. 

During the 26 minute and 45 second event, AARP Rhode Island, representing 132,000 members, delivered a petition signed by more than 16,114 Rhode Islanders, calling for Congress to act now and stop unfair drug prices. AARP has called for fair drug prices for years and supports legislation that passed the House in November, which would allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices, put a cap on out-of-pocket costs that older adults pay for their prescription drugs and impose penalties on drug companies that raise prices faster than the rate of inflation.

“Americans are fed up with paying three times what people in other countries pay for the same drugs. More than four million people across the country, including more than 16,000 here in the Ocean State, are joining AARP to demand lower prices for prescription drugs,” said Taylor in a statement announcing the petition being delivered to Reed and Whitehouse. “There will never be a better time to lower drug prices than the historic opportunity in front of Congress. Now is the time to get it done!” Taylor says.

Big Pharma makes billions from high drug costs

“Big Pharma is making billions while seniors and taxpayers are suffering,” says AARP State President Mitchell, noting that just last month Big Pharma raised the prices of 800 prescription medications.” People are sick and tired of paying three times for prescription drugs what people in other countries are paying for these drugs, “It’s outrageous and unacceptable,” Mitchell said.

According to Mitchell, “if consumer prices had risen as fast as drug prices during the last 15 years, gas would cost $12.20 a gallon and milk would cost $13 a gallon.” This gives perspective to this issue, he said.

“Big Pharma is trying again to scare lawmakers and members of AARP and everyone else with misleading claims to stop Medicare to negotiate prices, charged Zarlengo. “We, at least, know the truth. The truth is by allowing Medicare negotiation [of prices], that process will help seniors during these times of inflation by lowing their prices of drugs and putting more money in their pocket,” he said.

Zarlengo gave the two Rhode Island Senators a message from Rhode Island seniors: “Don’t let Pharma win this time, lets lower drug prices now.”

“We hear you loud and clear,” said Senator Reed, responding to the over 16,000 signees of AARP’s petition. “Congress must address this issue of drug pricing. The system continues to force families into untenable choices between their health and other basic needs. One of the simplest things to do is to allow the federal government to negotiate drug prices for Medicare beneficiaries. I have been urging administrations, both Republican and Democratic for more than a decade to do this,” he noted.

“The VA already does this,” said Senator Whitehouse told his fellow panelists and those tuning in to the March 7 news conference. “And there is a big discrepancy in what the Veterans Administration (VA) pays for drugs and what Medicare pays for drugs. We have a reconciliation bill still in the Senate; it’s something Democrats can pass with only 50 votes. The bad news is that we need all 50 members to agree on the reconciliation measure and that has proven difficult. I hope we can agree on a package that all 50 of us can sign off on… and finally, finally, finally give Americans the drug pricing relief that they need. AARP is incredibly important in this fight. All your members make a difference. Thank you for stepping up yet again,” he said.

AARP fights Big Pharma on television and with digital advertising

In AARP’s new ad campaign, Larry Zarzecki, a retired law enforcement officer with Parkinson’s Disease who was forced to sell his home in order to afford his medications, returns to the airways as a spokesperson for AARP, illustrating the impact of the high cost of prescription drugs on seniors.  The retiree first shared his story in an AARP ad three years ago, but Congress’ failure to act means he has had no relief from the high cost of his treatments. As he says in the new ad, “I shouldn’t have to decide between my home or my medicine because Congress refuses to act. I’m tired of waiting for Congress.”

AARP’s seven-figure ad buy includes television and digital advertising in the DC area, and television in Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, New Hampshire, New York, Nevada, and Pennsylvania.

Responding to AARP’s new ad campaign, AARP Rhode Island’s Taylor said: “Larry Zarzecki was forced to sell his home in order to afford his medications.  He is but one example of Congress’ failure to act. No one should have to give up a home in order to pay for over-priced prescription medicines.  She called on Congress to put a stop to “spiraling price increases” by giving Medicare the authority to negotiate with pharmaceutical companies for lower prices.

“If the Veterans Administration can do so – paying roughly half as much for brand name prescription drugs as does Medicare Part D – then why can’t Medicare?” says Taylor.  “For a decade, Big Pharma has spent more on stock buybacks and dividends than on research and development; it’s outrageous that drug makers are charging Americans three times what people in other countries pay for the same drugs and justifying it with lies and scare tactics that simply don’t hold up,” she  added.

AARP has called for lower drug prices for years and is urging the Senate to pass legislation that would allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices, put a cap on out-of-pocket costs that older adults pay for their prescription drugs and impose penalties on drug companies that raise prices faster than the rate of inflation.

“Americans are sick and tired of Congress’ broken promises to bring down the price of prescription drugs,” said Nancy LeaMond, AARP Executive Vice President and Chief Advocacy & Engagement Officer announcing the launching of this ad campaign. “As Americans pay more and more for many consumer goods, Congress has an historic opportunity to lower drug prices and help seniors like Larry to afford their medications and other essentials,” she said.

It’s time to act NOW

According to AARP, without congressional action, pharmaceutical companies will continue to set high prices for prescription drugs and raise them without any warning or justification. The Washington, DC based advocacy group representing 38 million members recently released a report showing that 75 of the 100 brand name drugs with the highest total Medicare Part D spending have already increased their  list prices in the first month of 2022.

During the State of the Union, President Biden called for Congress to bring down the price of prescription drugs as a way to help consumers manage rising prices. The House of Representatives passed several prescription drug measures as part of the Build Back Better Act in November, but the Senate has yet to pass similar legislation.

It’s time for the Senate to put the welfare of the nation’s seniors first by passing legislation to put the brakes to spiraling prescription drug costs. This will be a hot campaign issue in the upcoming mid-term elections, just 230 days from now.

Sipping Cognac Signals an End of a Generation

Published in Pawtucket Times, November 15, 2013

On November 11, fewer aging World War II veterans attended ceremonies held throughout the country honoring them. With their medium age pegged at 92 years, many of these individuals known as the “Greatest Generation), are quickly becoming frail, their numbers dwindling as the years go by.

According to the Veteran’s Administration, our elder Word War II veterans are dying at a rate of just over 600 a day. This means there are approximately only 1.2 million veterans remaining out of the 16 million who served our nation in that war. By 2036, The National World War II Museum predicts there will be no living veterans of this global war that took place from 1939 to 1945, to recount their own personal experiences. When this happens there stories would only be told in some history books or by television documentaries.

The G.I. Generation, (coined the “The Greatest Generation” by nationally acclaimed journalist Tom Brokaw), grew in the Great Depression, and went on to fight World War II. Brokaw’s 1998 best seller, The Greatest Generation, put this generation, born between 1901 to 1924, firmly on the public’s radar screen.

Brokaw, a well-know American television journalist and author best known as the anchor and managing editor of NBC Nightly News, who now serves as a Special Correspondent for NBC News and works on documentaries for other news outlets, claims that this was “the greatest generation any society has ever produced.” He asserted that these men and women fought not for fame and recognition, but because it was just the “right thing to do.”

A Gathering to Remember

As with others of G.I Generation, old age and infirmity took its toll on the 80 members of the famed Doolittle Raiders. On Nov. 9, three of the remaining survivors gathered once more on Veterans Day weekend to honor their 76 fallen comrades-in-arms and made a final toast to them. While not related by blood, these surviving members (plus one not attending) had history that bound them tightly together.

At this invitation-only ceremony, at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force, at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio, the surviving three members of the famed Doolittle Raiders, Lt. Col. Richard Cole, 98, Lt. Col. Edward J. Saylor, 93, Staff Sgt. David J. Thatcher, 92, coming as far away as Texas, Montana and Washington State, came to honor their 76 deceased bomber crew members.

Health issues would keep Lt. Col. Robert L. Hite, a native of Ohio, from attending the ceremony. Hite watched the ceremony with his family members from Nashville, Tenn. Wearing the traditional dress for reunions, a blue blazer and gray pants and a Raider tie, Hite gave his own personal salute to his fallen brothers with a silver goblet a few days earlier

Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo

Over seventy-one-years ago, sixteen U.S. Army Air Force B-25 Mitchell medium bombers, carrying 80 army air force volunteer, took off from the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Hornet, to bomb industrial and military site in Tokyo and four major cities in Japan. This was America’s first air raid on the Empire of Japan that took place 133 days after Pearl Harbor, the Doolittle Raiders bailed out or crash-landed their planes (that ran out of fuel) in China, and most were led to safety by Chinese villagers and soldiers. According to the Doolittle Raiders organization, over a quarter million Chinese men, women and children were killed by the Japanese for aiding the Raiders to escape.

Although the “psychological” air attack was in retaliation for the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, this top-secret mission, led by Lt. Col. James Doolittle, had an added benefit of boosting the sagging morale of the American public.

Meanwhile, due to the surprise attack on the Japanese homeland, Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, who planned the raid on Pearl Harbor, decided to save face by moving up his battle plans by eight months to attack Midway Island. American code breakers were able to give date and location of this planned attack allowing the U.S. Navy to move three carriers — U.S.S Hornet, U.S.S. Enterprise, and the U.S.S. Yorktown — to ambush Yamamoto’s naval force, ultimately sinking four Japanese carriers, destroying 350 airplanes.

Later on, the Tokyo raid was credited in turning the war around in the Pacific because of the devastating defeat of the Japanese at the Battle of Midway in June 1942… The Japanese military machine could not replace those carriers nor could it replace the trained pilots and mechanics lost in the naval battle.

The Final Toast

According to Tom Casey, Business Manager for the Doolittle Raiders, on Nov. 9, an estimated ten thousand spectators, many young children, and aging veterans, lined the streets on the military base waving American flags, waiting to meet the three Lincoln sedans carrying the three Raiders who came to the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force near Dayton, Ohio.

After an afternoon memorial service with speeches and taps, a wreath was laid by the Doolittle Raider monument outside the museum as five B-25 bombers flew low over head in the famous missing man formation as a tribute. The Raiders made their last toast that evening to comrades who died in the air attack or since their mission, says Casey.

The original plan for the last toast called for the last two Raiders standing to break open the bottle of cognac, toasting each other and their departed members, stated Casey, who noted that this signify the end of the Doolittle Raider’s mission.

However, Casey remembers the two major changes were made last October at meeting in Washington, D.C. by the four surviving Raiders. Their first decision was to schedule their last public reunion in April 2013 at Fort Walton Beach Florida, the home of Eglin Air Force Base where the Raiders trained for their mission.

“They were also getting older, and travel was getting more difficult, so the second decision was made to not wait until there were only two standing members as initially planned, Casey recounts, stressing that it was important to bring together the five remaining Raiders together while they were physically able to meet to officially close their mission. Unfortunately, Major Thomas C. Griffin passed away weeks later. With the urging of General Hudson, Director of the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, Ohio, with the agreement of the surviving members the last toast would be scheduled for November 2013 on Veterans Day.

At the evening ceremony, before attending family members of their deceased crew members, air force leadership, and other invitees, a historian read the names of all 80 Doolittle raiders, with the three surviving veterans calling out “here.”

Among the many speakers, Chief of Staff of the Air Force Gen. Mark A. Welsh told over 600 attendees, “As far as I’m concerned, this is the greatest professional honor I’ve ever had to speak here with this crowd at this event.”

Welsh admitted that first book he read as a youngster was Thirty Seconds over Tokyo. “It was given to me by my father, also a World War II vet, with the words that I should read it closely because this is this what America is all about. I’ve never forgotten those words,” he said.

“The Doolittle raiders have been celebrated in book and in journals … in magazines … in various papers. They’ve had buildings named after them … had streets named after them. People play them in movies,” Welsh added.

“They [the survivors] hate to hear this, but Jimmy Doolittle and his Raiders are truly lasting American heroes, but they are also Air Force heroes. They pioneered the concept of global strike … the idea that no target on earth is safe from American air power, states Welsh.

Concluding the emotional ceremony, Cole, representing his fellow Doolittle Raider survivors, opened the 1896 Cognac (denoting Doolittle’s birth year) and gave his final toast.

Casey notes that this bottle was presented to General Doolittle on his sixtieth birthday by a representative of the Hennessy Cognac Company. “That evening was the first time ever the bottle was taken out of its original box and shown to the public and displayed,” he said.

“Gentlemen, I propose a toast,” Cole told the remaining Doolittle Raiders. “To the gentlemen we lost on the mission and those who have passed away since. Thank you very much and may they rest in peace,” then he sipped the cognac from an engraved silver goblet.

The 80 silver goblets in the ceremony were presented to the Raiders in 1959 by the city of Tucson, Ariz. The Raiders’ names were engraved twice, the second upside-down. During the ceremony, white-gloved cadets presented the personal goblets to the three survivors, while their long-time manager poured the 117 year old cognac into the into the participants’ goblets. Those of the deceased were turned upside-down.

The four remaining members of the Doolittle Raiders will continue to keep their heroic tales alive by personally sharing their experiences. When the last cup is turned upside down, it will be their oral histories, history books or documentaries that will give us an impersonal small glimpse of what it took to answer the call to duty and to do that job well.

Herb Weiss, LRI ’12, is a Pawtucket-based writer who covers aging, health care and medical issues. He can be reached at hweissri@aol.com.